Joan gazed lazily out the window of her automated rover, jostling gently as the vehicle made its way over small bumps on the terrain. Besides the craters parks and Mare Orientale, there wasn't much to see here. The landscape maintained a lifeless shade of gray and terraforming hadn't yet changed the inky black sky above her.
Joan glanced at the display in front of her.
3 minutes till arrival
Joan craned her neck to see where she'd be spending her first 2 days of work out in the field. Rows of tilled soil stretched out of sight, and in them, to her disbelief, corn stalks. Green and tall, completely still in the windless environment, Joan was seeing proof of an agrarian moon.
Joan looked on in disbelief. "They weren't kidding back at the lab, holy shit."
A small cluster of squat structures came into view as the rover descended down a rocky slope, a glaring white dome shined in stark contrast to the dim landscape, antennas scattered around it. Towering over the small dwelling, a labor mech stood powered down, mechanical arms hanging at its sides, head module resting on its chest plate.
As the rover slowed to a stop in front of the farm, Joan gathered her toolbox and a small bag, checked her hair in the reflection of the glass one more time, and hit the door release. The hatch of the rover hissed open, and she stepped out onto the dusty terrain.
The silence was deafening. Having only known the bustle of Neo Miami, Joan was in awe of the absence of sound in the lunar expanse. It took her a moment to realize that she should be hearing something, where was her host?
Joan glanced down at her work tablet, looking at the dossier on the screen.
Greta Dirt had been on this property 20 years and had been one of the first farmers to grow a substantial crop in a terraformed environment. Even though oxygen had reached breathable levels, no one knew how she had gotten fertile soil. She supplied corn to a few distributors, all by herself, with the help of one labor mech.
Joan shook her head. Going a get soil samples from the crazy farmer lady, they said. Get out of the lab for once, they said.
Suddenly the door of the domed abode creaked open loudly, and a tangle of red hair appeared. It spoke, "Are you from Bogart Labs?"
Joan looked up from her tablet, "Ah yes! Missus.....Dirt?"
A stout woman with red hair stepped out, she eyed Joan up and down and smiled dryly. "Greta works just fine, thank you."
Joan moved towards the home extending a handshake as she walked. "Jona Tillerson, Bogart Labs Bioengineer"
Greta looked for a moment at the delicate white outstretched hand and shook her head. "Come on city girl, I'll show you around," she muttered before setting off into the fields.
Joan struggled to take notes as Greta showed her the crops, the water collector, the irrigation system, the nursery, and the seed chamber. Five pages later and they were back at the house.
"And last but not least, is Greg." Greta motioned upwards to the giant mech, its mass now casting a shadow over the tiny home. "Couldn't run this farm without him," she said, dusting off some lunar dirt from the mech's couch sized foot. "He's getting old though, looking to take this money from your lab to get him over to the nearest station, old boy deserves it."
Joan pointed at the mechs shadow over the house, "How long do we have until the switch?"
Greta glanced over her shoulder. The sun hung just above the horizon, preparing for its 2-week vacation. Soon, this side of the moon would decent into 336 hours of night.
"Not much longer, best go get those samples soon."
Joan looked down at her notebook, "I have four sites to visit, I should be able to hit them all with the rover."
Greta scoffed, "And stir up dust around my crops? Sorry honey, you'll have to get there by foot."
Joan opened her mouth in protest but Greta had already made her way over to the neon machine, handing her a glowing tube of neon gas.
"You've got time sweetheart, just take this in case."
Joan worked with her trowel feverishly at site 4, glancing over her shoulder at the setting sun. Unlike Earth, there were no atmospheric gas molecules to provide a friendly red glow, only dimming white ball against a black background.
Site 4 was at the edges of Greta's farm, which dropped off sharply into a small crater. This part of the farm also bordered the actual limits of the terraformed atmosphere. Here, the corn grew smaller with the lower oxygen levels. Joan couldn't waste time here, the risk of oxygen deprivation was real. The light around her began to fade.
Joan tapped the last of the soil into a small plastic cylinder. She shrugged off her equipment pack to stow away the final sample, and start the trek back to Greta.
As she swung the bag off her back, Joan saw for a split second the unzipped pouch carrying the samples swing around. A sample flew out into the dirt, rolling as it approached the lip of the crater. Joan leaped, hand outstretched, clenching dust as the small container rolled off the edge and out of sight.
"Fuck!" Joan's heart beat wildly. Her hands and feet began to grow cold.
The sun was now just peeking over the horizon, Joan's world had grown very dim.
Joan pulled out her neon light from and swung her legs over the crater. What once was a short slope was now an unmeasurable drop into darkness. She wasn't thinking clearly, but she inched forward on her rear, reaching with her feet for anything solid.
The sound of rocks falling echoed through the crater.
But Joan hadn't moved.
Petrified she scanned the dark expanse. Her head spun as she struggled to focus. She'd heard the stories, the guys in the lab had joked about the creature beyond The Edge.
Joan gazed lazily out the window of her automated rover, jostling gently as the vehicle made its way over small bumps on the terrain.
Besides the craters parks and Mare Orientale, there wasn't much to see here. The landscape maintained a lifeless shade of gray and terraforming hadn't yet changed the inky black sky above her.
Joan glanced at the display in front of her.
3 minutes till arrival
Joan craned her neck to see where she'd be spending her first 2 days of work out in the field. Rows of tilled soil stretched out of sight, and in them, to her disbelief, corn stalks. Green and tall, completely still in the windless environment, Joan was seeing proof of an agrarian moon.
Joan looked on in disbelief. "They weren't kidding back at the lab, holy shit."
A small cluster of squat structures came into view as the rover descended down a rocky slope, a glaring white dome shined in stark contrast to the dim landscape, antennas scattered around it. Towering over the small dwelling, a labor mech stood powered down, mechanical arms hanging at its sides, head module resting on its chest plate.
As the rover slowed to a stop in front of the farm, Joan gathered her toolbox and a small bag, checked her hair in the reflection of the glass one more time, and hit the door release. The hatch of the rover hissed open, and she stepped out onto the dusty terrain.
The silence was deafening. Having only known the bustle of Neo Miami, Joan was in awe of the absence of sound in the lunar expanse. It took her a moment to realize that she should be hearing something, where was her host?
Joan glanced down at her work tablet, looking at the dossier on the screen.
Greta Dirt had been on this property 20 years and had been one of the first farmers to grow a substantial crop in a terraformed environment. Even though oxygen had reached breathable levels, no one knew how she had gotten fertile soil. She supplied corn to a few distributors, all by herself, with the help of one labor mech.
Joan shook her head. Going a get soil samples from the crazy farmer lady, they said. Get out of the lab for once, they said.
Suddenly the door of the domed abode creaked open loudly, and a tangle of red hair appeared. It spoke, "Are you from Bogart Labs?"
Joan looked up from her tablet, "Ah yes! Missus.....Dirt?"
A stout woman with red hair stepped out, she eyed Joan up and down and smiled dryly. "Greta works just fine, thank you."
Joan moved towards the home extending a handshake as she walked. "Jona Tillerson, Bogart Labs Bioengineer"
Greta looked for a moment at the delicate white outstretched hand and shook her head. "Come on city girl, I'll show you around," she muttered before setting off into the fields.
Joan struggled to take notes as Greta showed her the crops, the water collector, the irrigation system, the nursery, and the seed chamber. Five pages later and they were back at the house.
"And last but not least, is Greg." Greta motioned upwards to the giant mech, its mass now casting a shadow over the tiny home. "Couldn't run this farm without him," she said, dusting off some lunar dirt from the mech's couch sized foot. "He's getting old though, looking to take this money from your lab to get him over to the nearest station, old boy deserves it."
Joan pointed at the mechs shadow over the house, "How long do we have until the switch?"
Greta glanced over her shoulder. The sun hung just above the horizon, preparing for its 2-week vacation. Soon, this side of the moon would decent into 336 hours of night.
"Not much longer, best go get those samples soon."
Joan looked down at her notebook, "I have four sites to visit, I should be able to hit them all with the rover."
Greta scoffed, "And stir up dust around my crops? Sorry honey, you'll have to get there by foot."
Joan opened her mouth in protest but Greta had already made her way over to the neon machine, handing her a glowing tube of neon gas.
"You've got time sweetheart, just take this in case."
Joan worked with her trowel feverishly at site 4, glancing over her shoulder at the setting sun. Unlike Earth, there were no atmospheric gas molecules to provide a friendly red glow, only dimming white ball against a black background.
Site 4 was at the edges of Greta's farm, which dropped off sharply into a small crater. This part of the farm also bordered the actual limits of the terraformed atmosphere. Here, the corn grew smaller with the lower oxygen levels. Joan couldn't waste time here, the risk of oxygen deprivation was real. The light around her began to fade.
Joan tapped the last of the soil into a small plastic cylinder. She shrugged off her equipment pack to stow away the final sample, and start the trek back to Greta.
As she swung the bag off her back, Joan saw for a split second the unzipped pouch carrying the samples swing around. A sample flew out into the dirt, rolling as it approached the lip of the crater. Joan leaped, hand outstretched, clenching dust as the small container rolled off the edge and out of sight.
"Fuck!" Joan's heart beat wildly. Her hands and feet began to grow cold.
The sun was now just peeking over the horizon, Joan's world had grown very dim.
Joan pulled out her neon light from and swung her legs over the crater. What once was a short slope was now an unmeasurable drop into darkness.
She wasn't thinking clearly, but she inched forward on her rear, reaching with her feet for anything solid.
The sound of rocks falling echoed through the crater.
But Joan hadn't moved.
Petrified she scanned the dark expanse. Her head spun as she struggled to focus. She'd heard the stories, the guys in the lab had joked about the creature beyond The Edge.